DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicant's abstract and specific aims): This application seeks funding for support of the Tenth Gordon Conference on Elastin and Elastic Tissue to be held at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire, from July 20-25, 1997. Elastin is a major structural protein of the body, providing extensibility and elastic recoil to the tissues in which it is found. Microfibrils are polymers of distinct glycoproteins. Because of the crucial contribution to the physical and physiological functions of many tissues, alterations in elastin and microfibrillar genes, synthesis, assembly, and repair lead to or are associated with several diseases of major social significance, including Marfan's Syndrome, aneurysms, emphysema, pulmonary and systemic hypertension, arteriosclerosis, and numerous skin conditions, such as elastosis and cutis laxa. The conference will integrate new information on the molecular and cellular biology of these proteins with an emphasis on studies directed at defining the function and interaction of these matrix components. The proposed meeting will bring together basic scientists from a variety of different disciplines to present and discuss the most recent information on elastin and microfibril proteins. As in past years, these interactions will result in new collaborative studies that stimulate novel avenues of investigation of these important connective tissue proteins.